Dr. Tim Wysocki, pediatric psychologist, joins us for a special chat on Tuesday, April 30th, 2002 at 9pm Eastern. The topic is teens and diabetes. Topcis will include those covered in his recently published article in Diabetes Spectrum: Parents Teens and Diabetes.

Teens with diabetes who have the best outcomes tend to come from families and health care environments with these characteristics:

Diabetes management is seen as a vehicle to accomplish broad life goals rather than being defined more narrowly.

Loved one's concerns are expressed through warmth and empathy and the adolescent becomes comfortable with sharing the diabetes burden with others. There is more praise and admiration for self care success and effort than there is criticism and punishment for self care failures.

Diabetes responsibilities are transferred actively for the right reasons rather than as a result of parental burnout.

Parent-adolescent communication is frequent, mutually respectful and constructive rather than conflictual and destructive.

The Ten Keys to Helping Your Child Grow Up With Diabetes is an excellent guide for parents of children with diabetes, especially those with newly diagnosed adolescents. It is somewhat less helpful for parents of toddlers or younger kids with diabetes, who face a score of other issues not brought up in this book.

Dr. Wysocki has devised a scheme for coping with diabetes, beginning with a fundamental need for proper education of the parents. Once this basic knowledge has been provided, the child and parents inevitably cope with stress, the problem of adhering to the child's diabetic regimen, school issues and social difficulties. He offers realistic techniques for parents to help cope with these developments as they occur.

Overall, Dr. Wysocki's book is an excellent resource for parents of newly diagnosed adolescents.

Last Updated: Thursday August 29, 2002 21:04:28
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